Site Mobile Navigation

No Wonder Chelsea Clinton Wanted Secrecy

WHEN it comes to publicly exploiting one’s nuptials, Chelsea Clinton could fairly be described as the antipode of Bethenny Frankel. Ms. Clinton, in the words of Joanna Coles, the editor of Marie Claire, “shows celebrities how they should be getting married and that it is possible to stay out of the limelight, if you want to.”

Oh, but who would want to?

Few images of Ms. Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mezvinsky have been released, frustrating those whose livelihoods depend on a feed of nuptial news. Think of the publicity-seeking designers, the poor caption writers for InStyle, the knockoff artists hoping to make a buck off a Chelsea-inspired trend. Once, designers talked freely about their designs, but this week, an assistant to Vera Wang, who made the wedding gown, hung up on a reporter calling for more details.

“Many of us would also love to see her lineup of lavender-clad bridesmaids as well as the children rumored to have been members of the wedding,” wrote Bridget Foley in Women’s Wear Daily. “And, oh yes, a good look at Hillary’s Oscar de la Renta gown, its Italian organza in a high-drama ombréd range from magenta to pale pink.”

Photo

Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky.Credit
Genevieve De Manio/Reuters

That dress (possibly gorgeous, but who can tell?) can barely be seen in the official images. Allen B. Schwartz, the copycat king who has said he will remake the dress, has his work cut out for him. Mr. Mezvinsky, meanwhile, may have suffered a disservice for the lack of a decent photo op. In the image that the men’s suit designer Alan Flusser saw online, the Burberry-clad groom, he said, “looked like Ichabod Crane.”

“The man has a very long neck, and unfortunately, he is wearing a dress shirt that is probably two inches too short,” Mr. Flusser said. “He looked less — how shall I say this? — less stylish than his wife looked.”

Interest in the wedding is understandable, said Susan Cernek, an editor at Glamour.com. “Weddings serve as a calling card for one’s personality and lifestyle. In 24 hours you showcase your social circle, sartorial preferences, family background, visual aesthetic, even your diet preferences.”

Ms. Coles had another theory as to why people might be disappointed by a mere trickle of photos: Despite growing up in the White House, Ms. Clinton appears to have emerged “relatively normal,” she said. “People can’t quite believe it. They long to see a picture of her lying upside down with her dress hanging over her head.”

A version of this article appears in print on August 5, 2010, on Page E4 of the New York edition with the headline: No Wonder She Wanted Secrecy. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe